Art is an Explosion

Even though he was backstabbed by his teammate, Pipi Axe didn't complain. The flames on his neck flickered, and he charged at the Ghoul Tyrant with his greatsword once more.

"Clang!" Axe and sword met, sparks erupting.

Although Pipi Axe was a high-level Lv10, he was still struggling against the Lv15 Ghoul Tyrant.

Every swing of that heavy Ebony Greatsword felt like driving a stake, making Pipi Axe's skeleton creak and cracking several flagstones beneath his feet.

"Pipi Axe, hold on!" Su Li commanded, his figure cutting in from the flank like a phantom.

"Fwoosh--!!"

Su Li didn't rush to attack. Instead, he stood at an extremely tricky angle and unleashed a point-blank Dragon Roar at the Ghoul Tyrant's unarmored knee joint.

"Boom!" A blast of air.

Even though it was only a segment of Dragon Roar, at such close range, it still produced a significant stun effect.

The Ghoul Tyrant's downward chop abruptly froze, its knee involuntarily bending.

"Good opportunity! Pipi Finger, go!"

Pipi Finger, who had been waiting nearby, darted out like a red facehugger.

The dozen or so thick fingers instantly latched onto the Tyrant's calf bone and pulled hard!

"Thump!" The Ghoul Tyrant finally lost its balance and fell to one knee.

"Die for me--!!"

Su Li's eyes narrowed. The Corrupted Iron Sword in his hand turned into a dark red afterimage, precisely stabbing towards the cervical vertebra within the Tyrant's helmet's seam.

This sword strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless! No fancy moves, just pure killing intent.

"Clang! Sss!" The first strike was blocked by the Ghoul Tyrant's armguard, but Su Li didn't stop.

Using the recoil, he flicked his wrist, the blade changing direction unnervingly and piercing into the Tyrant's shoulder socket along the armor's seam.

[Basic Swordsmanship proficiency +2]

Although the Ghoul Tyrant, as an undead creature, was immune to Crimson Corruption, the physical damage was very real.

"Again!" Su Li ducked, evading the Tyrant's swinging fist, and counterattacked with a sword slash towards its waist.

Pipi Axe wasn't idle either. Seizing the moment the Tyrant was kneeling, he swung his double-bladed battle axe and smashed it down on its crown of the head.

"Clang clang clang clang!" The dense sounds of impact echoed through the ancient tomb.

With the tacit cooperation of the three, the once arrogant Ghoul Tyrant's health bar finally hit bottom.

Following Pipi Axe's final, powerful horizontal sweep, and Su Li's precise finishing blow piercing its eye socket.

"Crack!" The Ghoul Tyrant's skull shattered.

The ball of blue soulfire flickered a few times before finally extinguishing in resignation.

The massive body collapsed with a thud, turning into scattered armor and dry bones.

[Basic Swordsmanship proficiency leveled up! Current: Lv2 (20/200)]

[Swordsman profession proficiency increased! Lv1 (12/200)]

[Successfully killed Ghoul Tyrant (Lv15)]

[Over-level challenge successful! Gained experience +300 (460/1600)]

[Strength +7, Constitution +5, Faith +3]

[Congratulations on completing the quest, level up, young man!]

"Hoo... finally dead." Su Li leaned on his sword. Although he didn't sweat, he habitually made a wiping motion.

This battle had been truly difficult, but it also allowed him to truly experience the thrill of teamwork.

"Check status!"

[Race: Revered Corrupted Skeleton Soldier]
[Level: Lv6]
[Attributes: Strength 31, Agility 13, Constitution 26, Spirit 23, Faith 5]
[Professions: Swordsman (Lv1), Dragonborn (Special Profession), Blacksmith (Special Profession)]
[Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Lv2), Unwavering Force (Segment)]

"Strength is over 30! Constitution is almost 30 too!" Su Li nodded with satisfaction.

"This growth rate is like riding a rocket, and I even have two special professions."

Next was the much-anticipated looting phase. He squatted beside the Ghoul Tyrant's remains and skillfully began searching.

Besides the Ebony Armor, which was damaged but still salvageable for money, Su Li also found a Dragon Stone.

[Obtained: Dragon Stone (Special Item)]

[Description: A mysterious stone tablet containing the power of an Ancient Dragon's bloodline. It is said to be able to activate the bloodline within certain Wyrm species, allowing them to evolve into higher-tier Ancient Dragons.]

"Dragon Stone? For Wyrms to evolve?" Su Li's eyes lit up.

"It seems this world's dragons have a strict hierarchy. I'm guessing Wyrms, Great Dragons, Ancient Dragons, and so on. With this, maybe I can..."

He suppressed his excitement for the moment and continued searching.

In the several large treasure chests nearby, besides the usual gold and silver coins and a large number of Cracked Pots, he also found a black stone shimmering with starlight.

[Acquired: Weapon Enhancement Stone]

[Description: An ore containing the power of rules, usable to enhance low-level weapons. The lower the enhancement level, the better the effect.]

"Enhancement stone?" Su Li looked at the Corrupted Iron Sword in his hand.

"This sword is still a broken Lv1. Perfect for testing the waters."

[Use enhancement stone to enhance [Corrupted Iron Sword]?]

"Yes!"

"Buzz—" A flash of light.

The Corrupted Iron Sword, which had already changed significantly, was instantly renewed.

The blade became longer and sharper, with dark red light flowing unstably. Faint runes could even be seen appearing on the blade.

[Enhancement successful!]

[Corrupted Iron Sword (Broken Lv1) → Corrupted Iron Sword (Normal Lv30)]

[Armor Penetration +5! Magic Penetration +3! Rot buildup increased!]

"One stone leveled it up this much? This is awesome!" Su Li was a little surprised, then realized.

"It seems to be a diminishing mechanism, easier to level up at lower levels. In the future, it might take dozens of stones to level up even once."

Immediately after, a new dialog box popped up.

[Due to weapon quality upgrade, you can choose a direction to upgrade existing skills:]

[Option One: Self-Destructing Infantry]

[Description: Slightly increases the conversion rate of Corrupted Enslavement, and all enslaved units will gain the self-destruct command. Upon self-destruction, they will deal area damage and stack a large amount of Rot Value on surrounding enemies.]

[Option Two: Swarm Calamity]

[Description: Slightly increases the conversion rate of Corrupted Enslavement, and the maximum number of minions you can control greatly increases.]

[Option Three: I really need to control you properly.]

[Description: Greatly increases the success rate of Corrupted Enslavement conversion.]

Su Li looked at the three options and fell into thought.

"Option Two allows me to bring more subordinates, but the quality isn't guaranteed. Option Three has high quality, but the quantity is too small."

"Only Option One..."

His gaze fell on the words "self-destruct," and the corners of his mouth curved into an extremely sinister arc.

"Human bombs? Isn't this tailor-made for my Throwing Shit Style?"

Imagine a group of corrupted minions charging into the enemy formation, then exploding with a boom, raining "shit" everywhere... that scene would be too beautiful.

"I choose One!"

After the enhancement, Su Li felt the sword in his hand seemed more spiritual. Just then, the system popped up again.

[Trigger Advanced Quest: Mount Trial]

[Description: How can a true powerhouse be without a mount? Please choose your challenge target to unlock the mount function.]

[Option One: Defeat Flame Dragon Lizard, Difficulty: B]

[Reward: Unlock mount system, Corrupted Iron Sword will be converted into an Undead mount for you, acquire [Flame Dragon Lizard] (evolvable), Strength +3, Constitution +3, Faith +3, Experience +100]

[Option Two: Defeat Death Ritual Bird, Difficulty: A]

[Reward: Unlock mount system, acquire [Death Ritual Bird], Strength +5, Constitution +5, Spirit +5, Experience +200]

[Option Three: Explore and challenge the final BOSS of Undead Mountain Range (Unknown), Difficulty: S (Extremely Dangerous)]

[Reward: Seize its mount, All Attributes +10]

"Mount?!" Su Li's eyes lit up.

"This is exactly what I wanted!" He quickly analyzed the situation.

"Option Three, with S-rank difficulty, is a direct pass. I haven't even seen it yet. As for Option Two, that Death Ritual Bird thing is too sanity-draining. Although it feels like it would match skeletons, it's still too ugly."

"Option One is more reliable!"

"Flame Dragon Lizard! A Wyrm! And I happen to have a Dragon Stone! If I can subdue it and then use the Dragon Stone to evolve it..."

"Won't I just take off? Dragon Knight Su Li reporting for duty!"

A perfect closed loop! Su Li locked onto Option One without hesitation.

Then Su Li glanced at the time. It was getting late.

"Today's harvest was quite good. I'll browse the forum for a bit before logging off to rest."

Just as Su Li opened the forum to see if there was any new gossip, a private message suddenly popped up.

[Pansi Dawang (Lv5): Big shot! Big shot! Help!]